Mokou crosses over into pokemon
by capt. h
Summary: What it says in the title. Mokou seeks out 8 badges, and stuff happens. Uses parser storytelling format.
1. Welcome to the World of POKEMON

Chapter 1: Mokou and Cirno

Hello there! Welcome to the world of POKéMON!  
My name is YUKARI! People call me the POKéMON PROF!

This world is inhabited by creatures called POKéMON!  
For some people, POKéMON are pets. Others use them for fights.  
Myself…  
I study POKéMON as a profession.

First, what is your name?

- MOKOU

Right! So your name is MOKOU!

This is my grandson. He's been your rival since you were a baby.

…Erm, what is his name again?

- YACHIRU

"Yachiru." Cirno suggests.

"I'd rather not," Yukari replies. "Connecting many different worlds at once is a bit of a hassle. Are you sure?"

"Why did you bring her along?" you ask.

"She's one of the few residents of Gensokyo that knows more about pokemon than me," Yukari replies.

"Yep I'm the smartest."

"She's also disposable."

"HEY!"

- MOKOU  
- That way we can fight ourselves with the same pokemon and give it contradicting commands until it violently explodes.

"Mokou can't be the main character, because I'M THE MAIN CHARACTER. ME." Cirno declares to the heavens as much as she does to yourself and Yukari. "Mokou will have to be my rival."

"Did you really have to invite her along?" you ask.

"Kind of. Mind tracking how many times she dies for me? I'd like a benchmark for my studies." Yukari replies.

- NEET

"How about the NEET princess," you suggest.  
"Oh, you know she'll hate it. Camping outdoors for months at a time, far away from civilization and her electronics." Yukari explains, then cracks a sly grin. "But there's no way she could ever refuse the real thing to play with her computers."

- Kaguya

Yukari returned to her script.

That's right! I remember now! His *ahem* HER name is KAGUYA

MOKOU!

Your very own POKéMON legend is about to unfold!  
A world of dreams and adventures with POKéMON awaits! Let's go!

"Right, so here's the deal. In your bag is everything you need. I'll send you ahead while I prep Kaguya. If you have any questions, ask Cirno."  
"And if she doesn't know the answer?" you ask.  
"Then I don't either. Off you go!" Yukari says, unceremoniously dropping you in the middle of a small village, where you are soon approached by an elderly man.  
"Hi! I'm Professor Oak!" The old man begins, dragging you into his laboratory while on some tangent about his profession. He gives you and the fairy each an electronic device called a pokedex, and offers you one of 3 pokemon.

Will you choose

The Fire Type Pokemon Charmander

The Water Type Pokemon Squirtle

Or the Grass Type Pokemon Bulbasaur

- Obvmander.

You've always had a certain affinity with fire. You decide to go with Charmander.

Cirno squeels "TURTLE!" and begins immediately cuddling the squirtle as you take out your map.

There's a port in Vermillion that might be noteworthy, but before you can get anywhere, you'll need to get off this peninsula, either to the north through Viridian City, or South through Cinnabar Island.

As Professor Oak shows you out of his lab, you notice two mustached sailors and a Meowth offering free trips to Cinnabar to new trainers. One of them is clearly a woman with longish red hair, and the other is a man with blue hair.

They seem legit. Course, Cinnabar is pretty far out of the way, whereas Viridian is a stone's throw from the Pokemon League, Pewter City, and Celadon City.

"Let's Battle!" Cirno declares, sending her newfound turtle forward to confront you.

"What the hell?"

"It's simple," Cirno explains. "I'm the main character, and you're my rival. And this is the first battle of the game. Come on, come on, hurry up and send out Charmander already."

- Go 0_0 at Cirno being able to explain something.

- Send out Charmander

- Scratchspam

You are impressed at Cirno's ability to explain things, but you are skeptical of her explanation. You are pretty sure Kaguya is your rival.

You send out Charmander, and command it to spam scratch. It scratches Squirtle repeatedly while Squirtle tackles it once. Cirno complains that you're supposed to wait your turn between attacks, but this seems more effective.

Squirtle is at 40% health and preparing to tackle again. Charmander is at 70% health and still scratching.

- Scratchspam means SCRATCHSPAM. Do not relent!

You continue spamming scratch attack. Scratchscratchscratchscratch scratch...

Squirtle faints

"But I was supposed to win.." Cirno groans. Professor Oak congratulates both of you one your first pokemon battle, and offers to heal both Charmander and Squirtle using a strange machine. You wonder if it's really just magic, considering it only takes 3 seconds.

You thank the man and return to the map, contemplating where to go next.

- If at all possible, avoid asking Cirno for directions.

- Go North, let's see if something is there!

- Take Charmander out of his ball, though. Being in something THAT small must be bad for him.

"We should walk to Cinnabar Island!" Cirno declares. You decide to ignore her advice concerning directions.

You let Charmander out of it's ball and begin heading north. You're a little worried about that flame on it's tail, but think the fresh air would be good for it. The lizard wags its tail in agreement, and over the protests of Cirno you begin heading north. You cross a large field and soo encounter a flock of small birds. Cirno immediately sends her Squirtle forward to tackle one of the birds, scaring most of them away but holding one of them down. She begins rummaging through her bag, and throws a small red and white ball at the creature. The creature is caught by a red laser, and the ball shakes twice before Cirno picks it up.

"I caught a Pidgey!" Cirno exclaims, shoving the ball in your face.

Most the birds have already fled, but there seems to be one left. This one has red wings instead of brown.

- Inventory  
- Examine me  
- Examine Cirno  
- Examine me again  
- Examine Cirno once more  
- And finally examine me  
- Notice that Cirno is not the me that me is  
- Melt Cirno with the fiery passion of a thousand years

Your inventory appears to contain

- 1 makeshift fishing rod. It's really more of a stick with a thread attached to it.  
- One ferry pass. This will get you back and forth between the regions known as Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Unova, and Orre.  
- 5 pokeballs  
- 20000 P. The conversion rate is 100 P = $1.  
- 1 Pokedex  
- 1 cellphone? It's called a pokegear or something, Yukari must have snuck it in. It seems to have a few numbers programmed on it.  
- 1 town map. You can pick up the town map for each region in some kind of animal hospital called a pokemon center.

"I caught a Pidgey~ I caught a Pidgey~" Cirno sings, while dancing around you in circles. You have decided you've had enough of this and decide to melt the ice fairy's face off. You summon flames to both hands and effectively decapitate the fairy as the rest of her melts into a puddle.

You note that Cirno has died one time so far, though you aren't sure you should count friendly fire towards the Cirno death count.

Your examination revealed the following: You are the one wearing red suspenders. Cirno is the one that is now a puddle. A puddle that is slowly reforming into the shape of a little girl, but still a puddle.

- Evaporate Cirno

- Catch other bird

You would like to evaporate Cirno, but you don't think the other bird will stick around all day, so you decide to put it off until after you catch this thing. You throw one of your pokeballs at the bird. It shakes a couple times before popping right open. You're pretty sure you missed a step in the middle or something. Cirno weakened her's first, right? Either way, this bird is out of it's ball, angry, and squaking like crazy at you. It's also pecking your face off, so you may want to do something about that.

"Yo, jackass, you could have waited for me," you hear someone behind you gasp.

-...


	2. The Rival

- Get Charmander to scratch the crap out of the Spearow. Don't want it to faint though!

- There's only one person that could be.

- Throw the bird at her. Without turning around.

You have Charmander scratch the crap out of Sparrow while making a rude hand gesture towards the person behind you. For some reason, you think you would prefer to keep the Sparrow in a state in which it can continue to battle once you catch it, although you see no reason you can't simply catch the bird, or any pokemon for that matter, once it faints. You also begin wondering if Charmander knows any fire based moves.

You decide to confront the person behind you.

- "Eager to die, are we?"  
- Spin around and burn the shit out of her.

You deliver your line, spin around, and burn the crap out of her. The third degree burns you give her were justified by the way she sliced a knife across side as you spun to face her. Perhaps stalling to make a rude gesture was not the best decision. It will be difficult to deal with her while you are still trying to catch Spearow; you consider on finishing with one of the two before moving onto the other.

"Dammit, not waiting for the rival battle, and cheating against my cheat?" Kaguya huffs, catching her breath. She looks somewhat disheveled, you figure that she probably sprinted to catch up. "Don't you know how this game works? You're supposed to wait for me at the lab, then we have a battle in which our pokemon take turns attacking eachother. AND THEN we can start catching new pokemon."

"Why?"

"Because that's how things are done!" the princess pouts. "And the worst part is, YOU MADE ME RUN YOU BASTARD! Go! Bulbasaur!" Kaguya sends out a small green... thing with a bulb on it's back. You note that her procedures don't seem very pragmatic. You also note that the Spearow will probably get away unless you catch it before you battle Kaguya. Course, Kaguya will probably start attacking whether you decide to battle her first or not.

- Have we named our Charmander yet?

Why, no you haven't! You ought to do that!

- 'The bird' was referring to Spearow.

You considered throwing the actual bird at Kaguya rather than a rude hand gesture, but think it would be too difficult to get a firm grip on the damn thing while it's still fluttering about.

- Name it Lighter

- Admist Kaguya's battle proclamation, you have decided on a name for your pokemon. From now on, your fire lizard will be known as Lighter.

- Cammand Lighter to Burn the Bulbasaur to a cinder while you throw a ball at the Spearow.

- Alternatively, command the Charmander to throw the ball while you beat the hell out of Kaguya.

Decisions, decisions. You decide to take option one, commanding Lighter to burn Kaguya's charging Bulbasaur while you throw a ball at the odd sparrow. Kaguya's bulbasaur is now on fire. Which means it's now performing flaming tackles. You consider teaching Lighter how to do flaming tackles, as admittedly it looks really cool, even if it must hurt like hell.

You notice that the pokeball clicked shut. You consider giving a nickname to the captured odd sparrow.

"Bulbasaur, use tackle!" your rival commands. On second thought, you think you should put off nicknames until after dealing with Kaguya. You're still up for beating the hell out of Kaguya, but would be satisfied with simply winning the match.

- Have Lighter leer at Bulbasaur!

- Just tell Lighter to dodge Flameing Tackles until Bulbasaur collapses, from exhaustion or from burning. Whichever comes second.

You tell Lighter to dodge and leer at Bulbasaur. You're pokemon's leering doesn't seem to do much. The Bulbasaur continues to charge and nicks your Charmander a few times before collapsing from burning.

"Looks like Mokou won! Now pay up, Kaguya," Cirno declares. Part of her head is still missing as well as one of her arms, and she looks like a cracked ice statue at the moment. Kaguya returns her pokemon to its ball with a grumble. You ask why Kaguya is paying anything. Cirno explains, "When someone loses, they pay the winner a little prize money." You then ask Cirno why she didn't pay you after your match. She looks the other way and doesn't respond.

You win 200 P.

- Consider joining the fight by attacking Kaguya.

- Consider beating up Kaguya anyway.

- Definitely consider attacking Kaguya. She deserves it, most definitely.

"Smell ya later, loser!" Kaguya says, departing. "Unless you want to have one of our old death matches."

"Do you?" you ask."

"Not really," she says, waving you off. "We've done it a million times before. It would be fun, but I'd rather put it off until our pokemon are strong enough to join our fights. I don't see much point in another one of our killing sprees."

She heads north, turning her head just enough to keep an eye on you as she leaves. "Also, don't make me run next time."

You agree that there wouldn't be much point in fighting her. You could have a death match again, and it would be fun, but you're pretty anxious to continue your journey.

- Now would be a good time to check out that Spearow we caught.

Cirno flips open her pokedex, using it on the ball your newly caught pokemon. It hums for a second before responding in a mechanical voice. "Spearow, the Tiny Bird Pokemon. Eats bugs in grassy areas. It has to flap its short wings at high speed to stay airborne. Unlike Pidgey, Spearow has a terrible attitude. It is very wild and will sometimes attack other Pokémon and humans." You let the bird out of its ball. It rests on Cirno's shoulder. "I think he likes me." Cirno says as the animal pecks at her head, causing her cheek to crack a bit. Your surprised at how quickly it became docile towards you (though obviously not Cirno), although you note that both it and your Charmander look a little beat up. You may want to let them rest for now, maybe find one of those machines Professor Oak used to heal them the first time. But for now...

Give a nickname to the newly caught Spearow?

- Take out the map and check out how far we are from Viridian.

You take out your map. Viridian is only about half a mile away, you don't expect any more excitement until you get there. Cirno seems intent on going to a "Pokemon Center", whatever that is, but afterwards there seems to be a few shops and a gym you can try to get a badge at. Your goal is to get any 8 of them between yourself and Cirno and then compete in a tournament at a place west of Viridian called the Pokemon League. North of Viridian is Viridian forest and Pewter City. Also to the north there appears to be some kind of tunnel called Diglett's cave which leads straight to the port city Vermilion, where you can travel between the major regions.

East of Viridian is Celedon City, a fairly big commercial hub, and West is the Pokemon League. If you travel far enough west along the road, you should reach a town called New Bark in the Johto region. That region is known to have a number of pokemon that can't be caught in Kanto. Likewise, Kanto has a lot of pokemon that can't be caught in Johto.

- Name it Yakitori because that's what it will be when it master all the fire moves we're going to teach it.

- Flint. Because it's beak is hard like one, and a flint can spark a FIRE.

You think you either want to name your Spearow Yakitori or Flint. You would like to teach it fire type moves, but judging from appearances you doubt it can use them.

- Onward to Viridian!

- To Viridian  
- Melt Cirno for good measure.

"I still think we should walk to Cinnabar", Cirno says, glancing at your map. You have Spearow return, and decide to melt Cirno for good measure. You then head north, passing a number of small buildings and houses until you reach this "Pokemon Center" thing Cirno mentioned. Or at least you think it's a pokemon center, judging by the fact that it's painted like a giant pokeball and has a huge "P" on the front. You enter the building, and are greeted by a pink haired lady.

"Welcome to our Pokémon Center. We can heal your Pokemon to full health. Shall we heal your Pokemon?" the pink haired nurse asks. You give her your pokemon, which she sticks into one of those machines Oak had. She gives them back. You let Lighter out of it's ball, and you're ready to go.

Cirno will catch up soon enough. Maybe.

- Tell the nurse she's hot

You compliment the nurse on her appearance on the way out. She blushes a furious red.

- Initiate crazy consipricy theory about this being Eirin in disguise.

Once outside, you consider the possibility that the nurse is secretly Eirin. And the Chansey that stood next to her was Tewi. And that this is actually a Moriya shrine consipracy to use Eirin's shady new drunk to stop Yukari from messing around again.

Yeah, this line of thinking is getting you nowhere.

You consider where you would like to go.

- Explore the town, there might be something useful!

You wander around town for a bit. You notice a grumpy old man in the middle of the road with his daughter to the north, but they're easy enough to walk around. You also notice a small park in the north east area of the city. As you check it out, you nearly trip over a spray bottle.

You found a potion! You add the item to your inventory. You doubt you'll be that lucky a second time today. You consider challenging the gym or going to the store in town. Alternately, you think about leaving the city and heading either east, west, or north.

You've been out for a while. You notice the sun will set in a few hours.

- Which is the closest way to a gym?

- Check currency of P. Perhaps we can drop by a store and see what they're selling.

If you head straight east, you will reach the gym in about 2 minutes. It's right down the street.

You currently have 20200 P. There seems to be a shop a block away from the gym.

- Check the store. We might be able to buy something with the money we got from the NEET after all!

You might, but 200 P is roughly the same as $2. You decide to check the store anyway.

The store's inventory is somewhat disappointing. It looks like someone bought most the good stuff, as there are a lot of empty shelves where more expensive items would be held.

They're selling the following items of note:

pokeball - 200 p  
potion - 600 p  
burn heal - 250 p  
paralyze heal - 200 p  
antidote - 100 p

- Suggested Shopping List:

- Poke'Ball x10  
- Antidote x5  
- Potion x5

- Save the rest.

You purchase those items. You now have 6 potions, 5 antidotes, and 13 pokeballs in inventory.

As a bonus for buying 10 pokeballs, you also get a premier ball.

Your current funds are 16,200 P

-...


	3. First Gym

- Onward to east!

- Agreeing, we don't want to have to burn grouchy old men if we can avoid it.

You decide to go east, but need to decide whether you're going east to Celadon, or east to the gym down the road. You think you're siding with Celadon.

You hear a ringing noise in your bag. You reach into it and pick up your cell phone.

"Where the heck are you?" Cirno complains on the other end. "I've been looking for you all afternoon!"

- "Let me guess; you're at Cinnibar."

- Hang up if she mentions a Top Percentage anything, and delete from phone book.

"Yep, how'd you guess?"

You hang up. Looks like you'll be going solo for a while.

You notice there are other numbers programmed into the phone. You should check them some time.

- Head Gym East.

You are in front of the gym. You aren't completely sure how gyms work, but the jist is that you enter the gym, defeat the leader in a pokemon battle, and win a gym badge. You believe this gym's leader specializes in ground type pokemon.

- Check phone.

- If any number is listed as 'Youngster Joey' delete instantly. Trust me, it's for the good of the world.

'Youngster Joey' is not listed on the phone. You do have a few other numbers though:

KAGUYA  
CIRNO  
YUKARI  
OAK

Yukari seems to enjoy spelling NAMES with capital letters. Adding new numbers seems simple enough, and there doesn't appear to be an upper limit on the number of names your phone can hold.

- Since we have Kaguya's number, we should abuse her phone some time!

Yes, you should shouldn't you?

- Enter gym. We got what it takes to win!

You enter the gym, confident that you've got what it takes to win. It is set up like an in door soccer field, except with dirt instead of grass and no goals. There are two men on the other end of the stadium, one of them exits through a door undoubtedly to call the, you believe the position is called "gym leader".

You wait in the otherwise silent arena, but not for long. "I am Giovanni, the Viridian City Gym leader." A figure masked in shadow declares from a tall balcony on the other side of the arena. "Since you appear to be new, I'll give you a warning. This is the toughest gym in Kanto. I can't be held responsible for what happens to your pokemon." The man then throws out a pokeball. "Nidoking, serve your master."

Giovanni's Nidoking stands 12 feet tall over you. The monstrosity has the appearance of being chiseled out of a mountian, with each claw alone a foot in length. This recent development has slightly hurt your otherwise absolute confidence.

- Did we make a big mistake by going East?

You think challenging this gym first might have been a mistake, however, you think that going East to Celadon City would still be a great idea.

- "Ah. I was not aware of this. Thank you for the warning, I came from Pallet and I've only just started."

- Skadaddle with dignity and pokemon intact.

"There is nothing wrong with fleeing a hopeless fight. You are hardly the first trainer to make the mistake of challenging my gym first, and you won't be the last."

- Wait, before we go, ask the man how Cinnabar ranks in terms of gym power.

As you make to leave, you ask, "How does the Cinnabar gym compare in terms of power?"

The man answers, "The leader Blaine is second only to myself among Kanto's gym leaders. Most trainers that pick up Squirtle or Bulbasaur are best served going to Pewter City for their first badge. But Celadon City is best for trainers that pick Charmander. At least, for trainers wishing to stay in Kanto."

You thank the man, dignity mostly in tack, and depart the gym. You've seen most the sites in this city, so you take out your map and debate whether to head north to Pewter City, east to Celadon City, or west along the long road to New Bark town.

The sun is setting. You may stay the night at the pokemon center if you wish; it seems to be a type of rest stop for travelers and trainers alike. Though you aren't particularly tired, and it is early.

- How's Lighter doing?

Lighter is doing fine. A tad shaken, but looking pretty healthy at the moment.

- I vote NotPewter, although I am not sure between East or West.

You decide against going to Pewter City.

- If Lighter is doing fine, I'd say we go west to New Bark Town. Cause we can.

- If Lighter is not doing fine, let's rest and THEN go west to New Bark Town.

Lighter is doing great, so you decide to head to New Bark town.

It is now nighttime. It's a little hard to see, but Lighter provides ample light. You exit the city to the West, and after a little traveling in the dark past the last couple of buildings, you come across another source of light. You round a corner, and find yourself confronted with a herd of ponies that have flaming manes.

They seem to be standing at a crossroad. To the north in the distance you see a guarded building, that's probably the entrance to the pokemon league. You'll have to go south to reach New Bark.

- Oooh. A horse, and it's on fire too.

- We must have one!

- Pull out PokeDex and play with it until info on that horse is given.

- A horse with flaming manes is a MUST. Carefully go through all the steps on catching a pokemon...

- Have Lighter do a sneak attack, and when it's weak catch it!

You decide to catch one of the horses. But you need to decide on a strategy for catching one first. You pull out your pokedex.

"Ponyta, the Fire Horse Pokemon. About an hour after birth, its fiery mane and tail grow out, giving it an impressive appearance." It's a little too small to ride at only 4 feet tall, but you definitely want one.

To catch the thing, you should pick which pokemon you want to attack with, which attacks you want to use, and whether you would like to use a pokeball after the attack. The others in the herd will likely back off, but this is not true of every species. You do not rule out getting personally involved, attacking the animal yourself.

You have Lighter sneak up on one and use scratch on it. You considered using a fire attack, but considering it's already on fire it didn't seem like it would be effective. The pokemon lets out a cry. You throw a ball at the pokemon, and it shakes twice, but the creature escapes and begins charging you.

- Bring it on pose.

- Teach Pony-on-fire to not charge the Pheonix of the Bamboo Forest.

- Stopping it's charge will probobly go a way to earning it's respect as well.

You stop its charge with a powerful flaming kick, sending it three feet into the air. The kick was effective and the pony is dazed, but the pony appears to be using your flames to fuel its own, it's mane burning brighter than before. While you don't have any problem handling a few more flames, you decide that augmenting your attacks with fire will end up helping the ponyta. Fortunately, this attack seems to have had the intended effect of teaching it not to mess with you, as it is stumbling towards your charmander instead.

- You can agument this pony's powwer with your own?! YOU MUST HAVE IT.

- Try the ball again. If it's stumbleing, it's weakened.

You try the ball again, but it escapes.

- And if the ball doesn't work, go punch the thing a few times, then try another ball.

You resolve the not staying in ball problem the same way you resolve most disputes with Kaguya - by punching them in the face. You try the ball again, and this time the pony stays in. You consider nicknames for the newly caught ponyta.

- And if THAT ball doesn't work, try kicking it in the face once or twice then try a third ball.

You ponder the words "animal cruelty". You then realize such words don't really apply when the animals can harness the forces of nature.

Lighter looks a little beat, and your new Ponyta, like everything that has ever met your fists, is in fairly bad shape. You consider using your potions and whether you wish to continue along the road or rest for the night. You note that pokemon seem to heal quickly, and a good nights sleep should put your pokemon in peak shape.

As an aside, you have 11 pokeballs left, 12 if you count the premier ball.

- Meh. Let's rest. New Bark Town'll be there tomorrow after all.

- Sleepytime.

You set up camp and retire for the night.

- Be sure to apologise to the pony tomorrow. You don't want the thing cowering in fear when you decide to use it, after all.

You let the pony out of it's ball and apologize to it. The pony seems to accept the apology. You continue to New Bark town, Ponyta and Charmander close behind. You have a fairly uneventful trip, travelling without seeing many pokemon or people. After walking all day, you see New Bark town in the distance. You contemplate checking the surrounding woods for new pokemon.

"Fresh blood beginning your adventure or a fallen ace on your way from the league?" a girl on the side of the road asks. "M'names Megan, Ace Trainer. Either way, I'm itching for a fight."

-...


	4. Trainer Encounter

- ignore Megan and continue on coolly. We can't waste time fighting random encounters."

You aren't sure why you can't waste time fighting random encounters, but you decide against fighting Megan. "Not right now," you say cooly.

"Suit yourself". Megan says. You pass the trainer, and enter New Bark town a few minutes later. It's a quiet place that only has a couple houses and a laboratory. Nice, peaceful, and smells of the sea. Though a bit boring looking. You take out your map.

To the North is Blackthorn City, and it's a fairly big climb to reach it, the city was built on a mountain. But it does have a gym. To the west is Cherrygrove City, and north of that is Violet city. Cherrygrove is boring, but Violet has a gym and an odd monument worth checking called "Bellsprout Tower".

You contemplate your options, and toss around the idea of fishing; this town has a lake and is fairly close to the oce-hello...

It seems you, Cirno, and Kaguya aren't the only people Yukari sent on this little quest. You see Marisa Kirisame and her distinctive hat leaving the nearby laboratory.

- Make sure Marisa hasn't done what she does best... stealing precious things.

With Marisa, it's not a matter of whether she stole something, but whether she stole it from you the last time you shook her hand. You are confident she's stolen somthing from someone already, but you know that she hasn't stolen from you. Yet.

And on that note, she walks up to you, hand extended for the shake. "Hiya! Imagine seeing you here! I thought it was just Patchy 'n Alice!"

You think you should try to swap phone numbers. You are also fairly sure this encounter will end with some kind of battle. Marisa seems to think trading blows is the best way to say hello.

- Do we know this 'Patchy'? [I'm assumeing since we know Alice because Magic Team]

- If not, inquire. Always good to have information.

"Ya know, Patchouli Knowledge, librarian of the Scarlet Devil Mansion." Marisa explains "Real bookish type that never leaves her library. Purple hair, and likes poofy clothes and nightcaps. If you have a question about anything, she's the person to call." You've heard the name, but you've never met her personally. You notice Marisa is eyeing Lighter greedily. She begins, "You have a nice Charmander there."

"Get your own and back off."

"That's the problem with people that know me too well," she pouts. "Ya get it from Oak?" You give a resigned nod. "I suppose I could steal one of his instead. Tell ya what, how about we have a nice friendly match, and then I give ya Patchy's number, ze?" Marisa lets out a small green creature with a leaf on it's head.

- Do we know of Patchy's health issues? This might be something to be mildly concerned about.

You know very little about Patchouli, and absolutely nothing about her health.

- Remind Marisa that grass is weak to Fire. By having Lighter burn the Chikorita.

- Alternatively, send out Flint or the Ponyta.

Lighter is very good at reminding her of this! Marisa commands Chikorita to charge in for a tackle and it takes a blast of flames. Marisa has it try to dodge, but pretty quickly you connect a second time and it faints.

"Should have known better," Marisa says, adjusting her hat. "Ah well, I guess ya live and learn, right?" She gives you 200 P in prize money and you swap numbers, getting the numbers for Marisa, Alice, Patchouli, and Professor Elm of this town's laboratory.

"By the way, and I'm not saying this will happen, but if Alice and Patchouli come by looking for me I was never here, ze? And I never stole anything from them. Or from anyone else. It was all Alice. Yep." Marisa begins to walk towards Viridian City.

A quick check of your bag reveals that she stole two of your pokeballs. You can confront her about it if you want, as she is right here, but considering it's Marisa you're not sure it's worth it.

- Of course it's worth it! NOBODY steals from us! ?Torch Marisa. Not enough to kill her, but enough to incapacitate her long enough to get our balls back (o_O) and leave.

Well, yeah, of course it's worth it. Although you aren't sure you want to torch Marisa with so many witesses.

- Exercise restraint and ask yourself 'What would Keine do?'. Marisa is a human and we're supposed to protect and teach humans.

You consider what Keine would do. You are pretty sure it would involve a long boring lecture about how its wrong to steal.

- Grab Marisa by the shoulders and headbutt her face.

And you are certain it would involve the headbutt you just gave Marisa. Marisa is now stumbling backwards, dazed, and your head is aching hard.

- Ohhh no you don't Marisa.

- After doing the above, check to see how many pokeballs she had before nicking our two.

Well, might as well try the lecture part too. "Yeah, no. Keep your hands out of my bag, you damn thief." You were never very good with long-winded speeches, but you think you made your point.

While she's still disoriented, you take a peek into her bag. She has about 17 pokeballs, 15 before stealing ours. She also has 6 different type of spray bottles, and dozens of odd knickknacks. Lightbulbs, pens, price tags, shoelaces, watches, and keys, her bag is just stuffed with a bizarre collection of junk.

You knick the two pokeballs back, asking "Marisa, what the hell is with your bag?"

Marisa regains some of her composure. "Oi, my bag is perfectly normal, and there is nothing wrong with it. But ya ain't suppose to steal back the stuff I stole, ze?" Marisa takes out a small wooden magical reactor of some sort, which she begins to charge. "Stealing from a thief will get ya sparked, **Love...**"

- Steal the ball that has "M" on it if it's there.

- To add to this, if she has no pokeballs, let her keep two of ours. If she robs us again, however...

There is no ball that has an "M" on it in her bag. Though You wouldn't be surprised if she were to find one later. You would have let her keep ours if she had none, but she has plenty. Besides, the Master Spark she's charging is making you feel less charitable.

**"Colored..."**

- Consider naming Ponyta Inferno Dash. It looks like a Dash.

Inferno Dash is a tad long for a nickname. You like it enough to go for it, but you'll probably shorten it to just "Dash" for battle purposes and casual conversation.

**"Master..."**

- If we have enough time, rush over Marisa, and take the toy away from her.

About mid charge, you realize you definitely don't have enough time.

**"SPAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRKKKKKK"**

You are now in quite a bit of pain. Your head is still thobbing from the headbutt, and you're pretty sure you just died.

- "You sure you wanna do that here?"

- check around for bystanders, they mustn't be caught in something like this.

"Nope." Marisa grins. Apparently the Master Spark was one part pain, one part diversion, as Marisa now has her bag back. There are no bystanders, and you have enough space for a little match.

- Hourai "Fujiyama Volcano"!

You decide to burn the witch. You throw massive amounts of exploding fire in Marisa's general direction, and singe her more than once. Marisa isn't really returning fire, choosing instead to run away to the east. Pretty soon she manages to fly out of range. You don't think you can catch up, though you expect she'll go to Oak's lab, so you may want to give Professor Oak a call.

You are fairly annoyed at the witch, and are aching all over. But aftr a quick check you realize she didn't manage to steal anything other than her bag back, so that's good**.**

- Call Oak and tell him to take anti-theft measures.

"Hello, Professor Oak's residence. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message after the beep.

BEEP"

"It's Mokou, the girl you gave the Charmander to. You'll want to keep an eye out for Marisa Kirisame, a blond lunatic in full witches garb. She's a thief to the point of kleptomania, and she's out hunting for Charmander, so she'll probably be headed your way."

Message delivered, you hang up. You now ponder what to do next. You can visit the lab, leave the town, go fishing, or continue making calls.

- Visit Lab. From what Marisa said, it sounds like Alice and Patchouli are yet to arrive.

You decide to enter the lab.

"Ah, hello! Welcome to Elm's laboratory! I'm professor Elm!" A middle aged man walks up to you, and insists on healing your pokemon and giving you a tour of the facility. You notice a lanky guy in a lab coat placing lights on all the light fixtures. You think this explains a lot about Marisa's haul.

After being giving the grand tour and a long explanation about pokemon eggs which you half-understood, two people burst through the front door demanding to know which way Marisa went. The blond one with the doll you know to be Alice Margatroid. You aren't familiar with the purple haired one that's bent over weezing.

- I don't think we have any particular obligation to Marisa, especially after she tried to take our balls. Let's let them know where we saw her and where she was going. But also ask them why they're after her.

- Marisa said to tell them she was never there.

- That dosen't mean you can't tell them which way she went from a very slightly different location [Like outside the lab]

- Besides, it's not like we owe Marisa loyalty.

- Loopholes FTW.

Considering she tried to rob you, you don't think you have any obligation to Marisa. That said, you do word it carefully. "Marisa wanted me to tell you that she was never here. I'm sure she would want me to tell you that she also didn't steal anything from anyone, and that she most certainly isn't going to Pallet town. Why do you ask?"

The purple haired girl explains between breaths, "The black-white stole half our money and all our pokeballs."

Alice begins a terse greeting. "Mokou, meet Patchouli Knowledge. Patchy, meet Fujiwara no Mokou. Now hurry along or we'll never catch up."

"You go on ahead," Patchouli wheezes, "I'll meet you in Violet City."

"Agreed," Alice says, giving a quick goodbye and hurrying back out the door. Professor Elm is currently offering the new visitor a seat and a glass of water. You think this is for the best, as the visitor looks ready to keel over.

- Sigh. "Jeez, I should've guessed they were yours, eh? She almost tried the same thing with me too, but I took my stuff back. If I see her again though, I'll just be sure to give her a taste of her own medicine."

"Thank you for the offer. Feel free to keep whatever you manage to take from her. I doubt I could have gotten it back anyway."

- Is that Patchouli girl sick? She sounds like she's slowly dying...

"Are you sick?" you ask bluntly.

"Healthy as I've ever been," Patchouli says. "A bit winded though. I could use an escort to Violet City, if you're headed that way."

- We're not really headed anywhere at the moment. Might as well take the ill girl to Violet, right?

- Perhaps we could ask her or Prof. Elm what's in the city. Could be something interesting. Like a gym!

- Seconding this.

"Violet city is home to Earl's pokemon academy, where young trainers learn the basics of surviving in the wild," Professor Elm explains. "It's also home to Sprout tower, an ancient building dedicated to Bellsprout."

"Ironically, you can't actually catch a bellsprout in the tower, but there are some interesting ghosts in there I was hoping to capture," Patchouli continues. "There's also a gym in the city that specializes in flying type pokemon you can challenge. I myself have an interest in the Ruins of Alph to the southeast; it's an active excavation sight and a bit of a tourist attraction."

You decide to escort Patchouli to Violet City. You take out your map, and you see two ways to get to Violet, you can either go north and climb route 46 then travel through darkfall cave too...

Glancing at Patchy, you are fairly sure the girl would die if you took this route. You decide to travel west along route 30 through Cherrygrove City instead. You let the girl rest, and she buries herself in Elm's research notes. Soon Patchouli and Elm are discussing technical aspects of pokemon evolution. You make a point of nodding your head every once in a while, but don't really follow much of what they're talking about nor do you care. After about an hour of this Patchy is ready to leave and Professor Elm sends you both off.

You travel west, appreciating the sunset if it is a bit bright for your eyes. After passing the last of the houses you come across a rat in the middle of the road, stealing from a discarded bag of potato chips.

-...


	5. Youngster

Command: Would the pokemon survive after being defeated, but not captured? We shouldn't keep a rat... Even if it's a little cute.

You are confident that pokemon can survive being defeated but not captured, and that you can capture a defeated pokemon. You are not confident a rat pokemon would survive getting hit with a Fujiyama Volcano any better than a rat, but to be fair it is a rat. You're fairly sure you could buy mousetraps for these things in the local pokemart.

Command: Send out Lighter and weaken the thing with some scratches.

Command: But first, check the pokedex to see if this is actually a pokemon or if it's just a rat.

The pokedex wizzes. "Rattata, the Mouse Pokemon. Living wherever there is food available, it ceaselessly scavenges for edibles the entire day." Yep, it's a pokemon. You are about to call out Lighter...

Command: Use Flint instead of Lighter. We need to see what it can do.

But you decide you need a better look at what Flint you're Spearow can do. "Go Flint!" you command.

At the same time, Patchy sends her pokemon out too. "Come out, Totodile." she declares, letting out a small alligator.

"I apologize, do you want to take this one?" she asks.

Command: Allow this Totodile the opportunity to battle. Make sure to keep an eye for any notable traits or moves. Also, use Pokedex to scan it.

You respond, "Nah, you've got this," calling Flint back from the battle.

You use your pokedex on the alligator. "Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokemon. Totodile has a habit of using its highly developed jaws to chomp on anything in sight, so Trainers beware."

You observe the battle. Patchouli seems to rely on two types of attacks - ranged water attacks which Patchouli uses to force the ratata close in, and a powerful biting finisher the girl uses once the pokemon is in range. Soon the ratata is defeated with a great big chomp. Your companion makes to catch it, digging in her back for a pokeball before turning to you.

"May I have one of your pokeballs?" She asks. "I almost forgot Marisa stole all of mine."

Command: Patchouli seems like a nice person. Let's give her one.

Command: Let's loan her three balls. Not like we'll need that much balls for now... She can return the favor any time, or we can simply steal three from the witch.

Command: "Have three of 'em." and toss them in Patchouli's direction

You toss her three balls, none of which Patchouli actually manages to catch. Patchouli thanks you anyway and quickly captures the pokemon, placing the other two in her bag. The two of you continue following the road, and reach Cherrygrove at around 9:00 PM. Patchouli seems to be somewhat out of breath at this point, in spite of the casual pace you took.

"I'm beat." the girl says. "There's no way I'll make it to Violet City tonight. I'll meet you at the Pokemon Center," she says, departing. You take out a map of the city. There seems to be a beach on the west end of the city, and the pokemon center and the town's stores seem to be next to each other to the north. You notice that Azalea Town is to the Southwest, and is about the same distance away as Violet City. You recall that you can spend the night at a Pokemon Center.

You consider whether there is anyone you would like to call or anything you would like to do before turning in for the night.

Command: Pester the hell out of Kagari.

You call Kaguya,  
Kaguya answers, saying "Hey loser, made any progress on your pokedex? I managed to catch 20 pokemon already."  
You reply "I'd be surprised if you caught even one."  
"Yeah, well, how many do you have?"  
"Two."  
"Ahaha..." you hear the princess nervously chuckle. "I've got WAY more than that you jackass and OH GOD THE BEES HELP ME *bzzt*"  
The line goes dead.

Command: Consider calling Cirno for more info on what we can do with pokemons.

"Hey Cirno. Calling from Johto."  
"Nice. I'm on this wonderful island full of ICE west of Cinnabar. AND I EVEN GOT TO STORE THINGS ON THE INTERNET!"  
"What are you talking about?"  
"At Pokemon Centers they have computers trainers can use to store pokemon and items on the internet." Cirno explains "The things go VOOSH and they're on the computer and it's AWESOME. Anyway, I'll have to call back later, getting attacked by clams."  
Cirno hung up the phone.

Command: Put stuff away into something safe, just in case a certain witch tries to steal from us again.

You could try using that internet thing Cirno described, but you need to decide what you want to leave in storage.

Command: Hold up - how much stuff do we have left?

Your inventory appears to contain

1 makeshift fishing rod. It's really more of a stick with a thread attached to it.

One ferry pass. This will get you back and forth between the regions known as Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, Unova, and Orre.

1 Pokedex

1 cellphone, with several numbers programmed on it.

1 town map. You can pick up the town map for each region in any pokemon center. Your current map covers Kanto and Johto.

16,400 P. The conversion rate is 100 P = $1.

8 pokeballs, 9 with the premier ball

6 potions

5 antidotes

Command: PPFFFFTTT HAHAHAHAHA

Command: After having a good laugh at Kaguya's expense, make note (...somewhere) to catch something 'beeish'.

Done and done. Seems the phone has a day planner. You add "catch something beeish" to the list, right under competing in the pokemon league and getting 8 badges.

Command: Rest for the day if there is nothing more to do.

You can think of a number of trivial things to do, but decide that resting would be a good idea. You head to the pokemon center and have a good night's sleep.

It is now morning. You enter the main lobby of the pokemon center. Patchouli appears to have woken up before you, and you see that she has a couple shopping bags in each hand. "Ah yes, I still owe you for the balls from yesterday," she says. You receive 1200 P, bringing your funds to 17,600 P. You peek at her purchases as she sorts through them, and see about a dozen pokeballs and a potion or two. You also notice that she found herself a couple travel novels.

"Ready to continue north?" She asks, the last of her purchases tucked into her bag. She is surprisingly energetic this morning considering how easily she tired out last night. You think you are ready to leave Cherrygrove as you handled the most pressing issues last night, but you consider if there is any last minute errand you need to complete before leaving town.

Command: Chuckle. "Feeling better than usual huh? Say, know where I can catch anything that's bee-ish?"

"Why yes I am," the girl says. "There's a daily bug catching contest in the national park west of Violet City. Not my kind of thing, and be warned that Beedrill are nasty, agressive creatures."

Command: Handle any little issue that pops into your mind.

Nothing really comes to mind. Maybe you could visit the store, but you don't really need anything.

Command: Continue escorting Patchy to Violet.

You head north. After a little walking you come across a tree bearing some unfamiliar type of fruit. Patchouli picks the berries, handing one to you. "Oran berries." she explains. "Feeding them to your pokemon will help them heal. You can use your pokedex on the berries you find to see what their effects are." You thank the witch for her advice.

Passing the plants, you are soon approached by a young boy and his pet rat. "You two look like trainers. Wanna take on my Rattata? It's gotta be in the top percentage of Rattata." Patchouli glares at the boy, immediately taking out a pokeball. If you don't take up his challenge, it looks like Patchouli will.

Command: "Beedrill huh? Sounds like my kinda critter."

"They don't breath fire," Patchy says.  
"Can't have everything."

Command: Grin. "Hey, you wanna take 'im? Or should I?"

Command: Let Patchouli take him on. [This way you don't get his phone number ]

"I'll take him," the girl answers. "This is personal. Kind of." You aren't sure what she means, but you decide letting her handle this is for the best.

Command: Instead see if there are any wild pokemon around to best up to test Flint out.

You notice a green cocoon hanging from a nearby tree. You think it's staring at you intently.

Command: Send out Flint.

You send your bird out. It's currently darting around, you think it likes the fresh air.

Command: Check the Pokedex for possible moves.

You take out the pokedex, using it on both the Metapod and Flint.  
"Metapod, the Cocoon Pokemon. Metapod is the evolved form of Caterpie. At this stage, it can only harden, so it remains motionless to avoid attack."  
"Spearow typically use pecking attacks and attempt to intimidate their opponents with various growls, leers, etc. The most unique attack wild Spearow typically learn is Mirror Move, an ability which lets them copy the last action used on them. There is no conclusive explanation for how they perform this mirror move."

Command: Can't do anything? Boring.

Command: "Flint, just peck it until it's down."

Flint succeeds in knocking the cocoon down. You've won? You can't really tell, since it's just as motionless now as it was before. Eh, close enough.

Command: since that was a bug, go search for something beeish while patchouli's fighting.

You peek into the surrounding woods, and you see quite a few green cocoons and caterpillars. You don't see anything beeish, but you imagine you'd come across a few bees if you traveled through the woods instead of along the main road.

Command: No, let's stay and watch. May be interesting to see why Patchouli think the fight's 'personal'.

However, the main reason you decide not to leave Patchy and hunt for bugs is that she's already won. It seems this trainer is giving Patchouli some trouble, begging to swap phone numbers with Patchouli. Patchouli, for her part, is using Totodile in the place of mace.

"Surely you want me to keep you up to date about my Rattata?" the trainer says with a strong Brooklyn accent. "It's one of the best Rattata there is!"

"Totodile, blast him!" Patchouli commands. "Let's go Mokou."

After you are a safe distance away you ask Patchouli, "How was that personal?"

"It's not really, but back home I used to play the games, and I always hated that guy. He was constantly calling me about his damn rattata. 'My rattata is in the top percentage of rattata' - bleh. Always when I was in the middle of something too." You don't know what she's talking about, but you can't say you care. You take out your map again, and consider routes to violet. If you travelled in a straight line from here to Violet City you imagine you could find some bees in the woods, but you think this route would be harder on your companion. The main road heads north a couple miles before bending west near Dark Cave, a tunnel through the mountains used to reach Blackthorn City. It's not particularly remarkable otherwise, but it is the first cave you would pass.

You can either treck through the woods searching for bees, go to Violet via the main road and skip Dark Cave, or explore Dark Cave and then head to Violet.


	6. Dog

Command: Note: apparently, people who've hacked HG/SS have discovered that Youngster Joey's Ratata has the highest IVs (which modify a Pokemon's base stats) possible, meaning it actually is in the top percentage.  
Command: Go bee hunting!

You have no idea what an IV is, but you think it would be a great idea to go bee hunting...

Command: Make a note of visiting the Dark Cave once you've finished helping Patchouli. Might have something cool in it, but going in there with Patchouli might be dangerous for her. Nothing saying we can't backtrack, after all.  
Command: Also we can search for bees then.  
Command: Continue towards Violet, for Patchouli.

...later. You put bee hunting and spelunking on the list of things you would like to do after you get Patchouli into Violet, but for now you decide to stick to the main road for the sake of your companion's health.

Command: dice 1d20

Command: dice 1

Something feels special about today, the sun is shining and the birds are singing but beyond that you sense that today is going to be lucky. You pass dark cave without incident, enjoying the peace which continues unabated. But right as Violet City is just coming into view, you spot a funny looking giant brown and red dog.

Whatever this thing is, it seems to be causing Patchouli to hyperventilate. It also seems to have your pokemon really agitated. Regardless, you're pretty sure you want to try to catch it.

Command: "Hey patchy? This thing's got the 'mons pretty riled up eh? You're pretty tense too y'know."

"Ah, um, well..." The librarian stutters. She doesn't seem able to get the words out.

Command: "Ah well, if it's a pokemon, then it's our job for now to catch it, eh?"

"Er, yes, yes you're right." Fighting her shock, Patchouli lets both totodile and her rattata out of their balls.

Command: Let's scan it with the pokedex, then get ready to try catching it. Besides, it looks like it might be fire type!

The pokedex whirrs to life. "Entei the Volcano Pokemon. Unable to restrain its extreme power, it races headlong around the land. It is said that one is born every time a new volcano appears."

You prepare to battle it. Noting that it looks like it's about to blast something, you consider which pokemon to send forward and what moves to have them use. You think this thing could kill them if you aren't careful. You think flanking it would be a good idea, but suspect it will blast through the weakest link.

Command: "Hey, since this guy's fire, I call first dibs, 'kay?"

"Er... Sure thing."

Command: Lighter's fire-type too right? So he oughta be just fine. Of course, we'll jump in too, since we haven't had a chance to have a good scrap ourselves. Plus, immortality means we can take the hits for the rest if we gotta.

Command: Remember how fire made our Ponyta stronger?  
Command: Send out Ponyta.

Command: That works too, we can deploy both Dash and Lighter!

You send Lighter and Dash in. The dog responds to your deploy with a car sized-burst of flame. It seems the flames are too hot even for Lighter as Lighter is hurt pretty badly, but Dash's mane is blazing hotter than ever.

The creature looks around like it is about to flee. You think that to fight this species you'll need a strategy to keep them from running away, so you have Dash flank it. Admittedly, this will make Dash harder to protect.

Command: Let it flee. Lighter's wounds are more important.

Command: You sure about this man? I've been through the hell of trying to catch this bugger.

Command: It's taken no damage. It's about to flee. It's not statused. We only have normal pokeballs. Yes, I'm sure.

Although it took a lot of damage, it appears Lighter is still in fit condition to continue battling, though barely. You consider calling it back, but you don't believe it's wounds require immediate attention.

You are currently conflicted about whether to let it flee or not. You could ask Patchouli for help, although you don't want her taking a blast of fire and don't think her pokemon would fare as well as Lighter, if even that well, so you hesitate to have her get involved. That said, this thing does appear to be out of your league.

Command: Well, don't blame me if it gets away and we never run into it again yo.

Command: Out of our Pokemon's league, maybe, but it clearly has no idea who it's dealing with. Move in and take it on personally.

Command: I like your way of thinking. besides, it's bound to respect us all the more if we take it on personally.

You get personally involved in the battle, because beating things up is always the best way to get their respect. Or at least it's your favorite way. Unfortunately, it appears the dog-thing might know exactly who it's dealing with, because instead of taking you head on it tries to run straight through Dash, taking your ponyta out with a powerful stomp before you can connect with an equally powerful blazing kick that knocks it to the ground. It quickly gets back on its feet - you are sure it will try to run away again.

Command: Call dash back into the pokeball for the time, and rush in with a flurry of flaming punches! Full speed ahead!

Command: Mokou, use Fire Punch!

You decide to do the flurry of fire punches, since you don't have time to go searching for ponyta's ball. You connect, and you are sure the beast will have a black eye in the morning, but with nothing blocking its exit it chooses not to stick around and fight, but rather it runs like hell. Since you can't catch up to it, you call Dash and Lighter back. You walk with your companion to the town in silence, Patchouli because she's still awestruck, and yourself because you can't think of anything to say the the librarian. The two of you reach the pokemon center in Violet and you break the silence. "We're here."  
"You just punched a legend in the face, you know that?" Patchouli says, words returning to her.  
"Oh."  
"Oh? that's it?" The librarian grumbles. "Anyway, I'm going to do some research into that thing. Give me your number. I'll call you if I find anything." The two of you swap numbers, though you already have hers.  
"So what will you do now?"  
"Eventually, meet up with Alice. Right now, I'm taking a nap," Patchy yawns. "I might be in Sprout tower later tonight, if my health allows it." She gives her pokemon to the nurse, says goodbye, and lies down on one of the couches. Within seconds she is snoring.  
You give your pokemon to the nurse as well. She replies, "It looks like your ponyta took a lot of damage. It should stay here overnight at least. Don't worry, you can pick it up at any pokemon center tomorrow." You get your Charmander and your Spearow back.  
You can now go to several locations. You can inquire about specific locations you want to know about. It is now late in the afternoon, a couple hours until sunset.

Stores

Sprout tower

Pokemon School

Violet City Gym

Ruins of Alph

National Park

Dark Cave

Goldenrod City

Azalea Town

Ecruteak City

Mahogany Town

Command: Let's ask about the National Park, the Ruins of Alph, and Dark Cave.

"Can you tell me about the National Park?" you ask the nurse.  
"It's one part nature preserve, one part local park, and its to the west. It's famous for its daily bug catching competitions, where they give prizes to the trainers who catch the toughest bugs each day. The park is also a wonderful place to have a picnic with your boyfriend; the foliage especially beautiful in the fall."  
"How about the Ruins of Alph?"  
"The ruins are an active excavation sight that also functions as a tourist attraction. The ruins' original purpose is unknown, and they are the oldest known structure in Johto." The nurse explains. "It's also a nice place to go on a date. Lots of quiet spots for smooching in privacy."  
"And Dark Cave?"  
"Dark cave is the fastest route from here to Blackthorn city. Other than that it's not very interesting, but once in a blue moon you'll get a explosion of Dunsparce. Not today though, if you go today there won't be a Dunsparce in sight."

Command: "Tough bugs eh? Not exactly my thing, since I prefer fire and all. But that could be pretty useful to have. Anything you could tell me about the ones you can find there? I'm hoping to find a Beedrill specifically, because there's someone I don't get along with who had a rather amusing run-in with some bees a while back."

"They'll have tons of Beedrill. Theres also butterfree, scyther, pincer, paras, and venonat. If there's a bug you want, I'm sure you'll have no trouble finding it there. But be careful, some of them get very aggressive."

Command: Maybe we oughta take Patchy past the ruins, she seems like the sort who'd like poking around old ruins.

You think this is a good idea, but you think it should wait until tomorrow. She's currently fast asleep, and you doubt the ruins are open to the public at night.

Command: "What kind of Pokemon can you find in Dark Cave aside from the occasional Dunsparce?"

Command: Let's look it up in the pokedex while we're at it.

"It's mostly just Geodude and Zubat. There are some Goldeen and Magikarp in the water, and if you go deep you might find Graveler and Golbat, but I wouldn't advise it. Like any big cave system, if you don't stick to the designated paths you may never find your way out again. Union cave may be farther away, but at least it has Sandshrew and Onix."  
The nurse shows you Union cave on the map; it's to the south and while it's a bit further away, it's on the route to Azalea town. Your pokedex confirms everything the nurse told you.

Command: Boyfriend? Proclaim self to be male.

Command: Wait, what? Why?

You think it would be funny, but the bows you wear make it pretty hard to pass for male. You suppose you could take them off, maybe buy a fedora at the local stores. But as you are right now, you are pretty oddly dressed to pass as a guy.

Who are you kidding. Johto doesn't believe in fashion sense, there's a 50/50 chance the nurse is hitting on you.

Command: Also, it's because Mokou generally looks like a guy, dresses like a guy, and overall acts like a guy.

You take offense to your own thoughts. You do not dress like a guy, you wear hair bows. You tell yourself there's a difference, and that the problem is too many guys in Johto dress like girls.

Command: Do not proclaim self to be male, but proclaim self to have no need of a boyfriend. Self can handle self.

"Are you sure? I'm a natural when it comes to hook-ups." Nurse joy replies.  
"Yes, I'm sure."

Command: "Huh, caves are pretty dangerous, but nothing's worse the the bamboo forest I live in. You'd be surprised how horrifyingly easy it is to get lost there, but I never do."

Command: We'll have to take note that we could even find some stronger pokemon deeper in. We're Immortal, and it's hard for us to get lost, so it should be a piece of cake!

"Be warned that the wild pokemon themselves regularly reshape the caves, especially as you go in deep. Trainers that stick to the path are fine, but trainers that go spelunking should always bring a pokemon that can dig them out. You never know when a wild Graveler explosion will bring down part of the cave."

Command: "Huh, so what ones would you suggest then? I take it that the Geodude, Graveler, and Onix you mentioned earlier are good for that yeah?"

"Diglett and Onix are best; they can carve out tunnels in seconds. Some Graveler and Geodude are good diggers, but many aren't, it's kind of hit and miss. They don't usually need to dig tunnels, so they often don't learn how to do it any faster than a trainer with a shovel. You can buy a TM in Goldenrod to teach Charmander how to dig, if you'd like." The nurse says, typing at her computer. "Let's see, it says here the item is called TM 28."


End file.
